Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Radio personality and bibliophile Lily Richards tells her story to Viva. NZ Herald.

Left - bFM book reviewer Lily Richards. Photo / Babiche Martens

I've only ever worked in bookshops, the thinking being that at the end of the day I can be certain that, even if I sold someone some cheesy romance, I'd still have been helping people read, and that's fundamentally a good thing."
Lily Richards is a dedicated bookworm, surrounding herself with stories as the brand manager of Auckland's Unity Books, and reviewing titles for TV channel U and bFM show fMorning Glory. "I love doing the reviews; I love the chance to ... not proselytise but espouse maybe ... on what a book can do to the reader," she explains. "Books are unique in the arts; they're accessible, on every possible topic known to man, inspirational, thought-provoking and democratically available to all. And they make you more intelligent, wise and thoughtful. Basically, they're awesome."
Her interest in books and story-telling developed at an early age via creative parents with a natural interest in literature - her mother is an artist, her father an architect - and an appreciation for writing ("I have always written, and there's no writer in the world worth their salt who doesn't read. It's like breathing, the in and the out."). Her favourite tale hints at this early appreciation for stories: "My favourite tale, as it is, would be Rapunzel - the radishes, everyone forgets about them, they just remember her hair - I've always been haunted by that witch and the mother's insatiable craving for radishes."Full story at NZH online.